Why does it have to suck to be Superman?

[DochaDocha]

I haven't made a pseudoscience post in a while, so here goes. Even we normal folks can hear things in our sleep. Most people put this in practice daily by setting an alarm clock which normally wakes us up. Obviously, we don't process all sounds when we sleep. Ambient noise usually doesn't successfully wake us up, and it's not like if you fall asleep while watching TV do you usually remember hearing what was said while you were snoozing.

Anyway, some time ago, an undergrad at Johns Hopkins and her faculty professor gathered evidence that the areas of the brain that process our hearing while we sleep are the primary auditory cortex as well as the frontal lobe, an area of the brain associated with vigilance. They believe because of this triggering of vigilance, it's why people can sleep soundly (I always thought "soundly" was a strange adjective to describe uninterrupted deep sleep) when there's ambient noise, but certain sounds that you react to can wake you up. So here's the pseudoscience application: Superman is extremely vigilant toward the sounds of people in trouble. That's why he hears them when he sleeps instead of tuning it out.

[Superlad93]

So if he doesn't sleep one assumes he spends those 8 hours super heroing.

Or he doesn't. Maybe he finds a way to sleep. The point of my post was to not let a line of text in a story be a roadblock but a gateway to more ideas. I believe I gave at least two on how he could sleep if you'd like him to.

[Superlad93]

I haven't made a pseudoscience post in a while, so here goes. Even we normal folks can hear things in our sleep. Most people put this in practice daily by setting an alarm clock which normally wakes us up. Obviously, we don't process all sounds when we sleep. Ambient noise usually doesn't successfully wake us up, and it's not like if you fall asleep while watching TV do you usually remember hearing what was said while you were snoozing.

Anyway, some time ago, an undergrad at Johns Hopkins and her faculty professor gathered evidence that the areas of the brain that process our hearing while we sleep are the primary auditory cortex as well as the frontal lobe, an area of the brain associated with vigilance. They believe because of this triggering of vigilance, it's why people can sleep soundly (I always thought "soundly" was a strange adjective to describe uninterrupted deep sleep) when there's ambient noise, but certain sounds that you react to can wake you up. So here's the pseudoscience application: Superman is extremely vigilant toward the sounds of people in trouble. That's why he hears them when he sleeps instead of tuning it out.

Going a bit more with this: the sounds made around us when we sleep can sometimes influence our dreams more. If you hear a lot of rushing water than chances are good that you will have a dream that involves water or liquid of some sort (and you might need to pee). I believe this even goes for the sound of a familiar voice in some case (but I haven't read up on it) So it may even be possible that Superman has super hearing influenced dreams.

I think there's a story there. Maybe a dream team up with Sandman (Vertigo) like Chris Kent had?

[db105]

It's fashionable for comics to be full of angst. It makes them seem more mature or something. And DC is the company that is more unreservedly in the angst-filled wagon. It's not only Superman. Marvel also has a lot of angst, but I feel they are better at having light-hearted moments and books also. If you are having fun, I feel that a moment of angst has more impact. If it's always angst, then I just disconnect emotionally and don't care any more.

[Auguste Dupin]

All of these problems you have named that Thor had to confront were EXTERNAL. At no point did he suffer because of how his powers worked. Which is why he is a different sort of character to The Hulk.

Obviously heroes have to overcome obstacles in order to create drama, but why does Superman constantly have to suffer nightly torment simply because he is Superman?

Or is this some way to engender sympathy for the character? "I'm Superman. Feel sorry for me. "

Ho, stop it. You're painting this as some constant angst from him when this is the first time he even mentions this. And did so to make a completely different point than "woe is me".
Superman has mentionned many times that he likes being Superman. What you're doing would be like me taking that panel where Donald Blake starts wondering wether or not being Thor is really worth it compared to being a god in the first issue of Simonson's run and use it to argue that he thinks being Thor sucks.
Also, yes,for your information, in most versions where Superman doesn't sleep at night (usually because he doesn't need to), he spends his 8 hours super heroing.

[DochaDocha]

In the pre-Flashpoint era, sometimes I felt Superman slept more than Batman.

[brettc1]

Ho, stop it. You're painting this as some constant angst from him when this is the first time he even mentions this. And did so to make a completely different point than "woe is me".
Superman has mentioned many times that he likes being Superman. What you're doing would be like me taking that panel where Donald Blake starts wondering whether or not being Thor is really worth it compared to being a god in the first issue of Simonson's run and use it to argue that he thinks being Thor sucks.
Also, yes,for your information, in most versions where Superman doesn't sleep at night (usually because he doesn't need to), he spends his 8 hours super heroing.

I think there is a big difference to pondering the responsibilities of being a god and telling somebody that you don't even get to sleep at night because you constantly hear people suffering. The intent of the panel in SM WW is pretty clear - to gain empathy for Superman. The very way he says it is designed to communicate the idea that he wishes he could sleep, or at least not hear all the screams.



The thing Docha mentioned above about how our hearing is attuned to certain sounds as a matter of vigilance has merit. However, the vision powers problem still remains. Most of Superman's powers can be turned on and off. He can choose to see in the infra-red spectrum or not. Since most of his powers don't really make any sense anyway, there is not need to try and inject realism into proceedings by saying his super-hearing is always active to the point where he is constantly bombarded with every sound on the planet. After all, the entire idea of that is ludicrous in itself.

Jor-El could have at least thought of a way to stop that happening all the time.

[brettc1]

In the pre-Flashpoint era, sometimes I felt Superman slept more than Batman.

Batman has two states - go, and knocked unconscious.

[Johnny Thunders!]

I like this kind of problem, instead of "oh no, I'm just a kid from Kansas, what do I do?" This is a Superman sized problem. Hearing everything, how do you pick and choose when to help and when not too. Astro City, the Samaritan issues with Winged Victory touch on this.

Jor El? Jor el knew Kal could handle his own business. Sucks to be Superman, looks like it's worse being the old boyfriend.

[Auguste Dupin]

I think there is a big difference to pondering the responsibilities of being a god and telling somebody that you don't even get to sleep at night because you constantly hear people suffering. The intent of the panel in SM WW is pretty clear - to gain empathy for Superman. The very way he says it is designed to communicate the idea that he wishes he could sleep, or at least not hear all the screams.



The thing Docha mentioned above about how our hearing is attuned to certain sounds as a matter of vigilance has merit. However, the vision powers problem still remains. Most of Superman's powers can be turned on and off. He can choose to see in the infra-red spectrum or not. Since most of his powers don't really make any sense anyway, there is not need to try and inject realism into proceedings by saying his super-hearing is always active to the point where he is constantly bombarded with every sound on the planet. After all, the entire idea of that is ludicrous in itself.

Jor-El could have at least thought of a way to stop that happening all the time.

No, what he's saying is that, unlike Trevor who can just take off his spy costume and stop his "day job" at the end of his shift, Superman can't stop being Superman even if he wanted to. Pointing out as such that the accusation of lying about who he was and only showing his "day job" is unfounded.
The "vision problem" isn't a problem because that power works differently from is hearing. His "X Ray vision" doesn't make him see better, it makes him see different things. Superman actually has a supervision (in that he can see further than any regular human could) and guess what? He can't turn it off either. Because his "supervision" and "superhearing" are just his eyes and hears being more performant than ours.
Superman can't stop himself from hearing things the same way he can't stop himself from being invulnerable (unless you're suggesting he should be able to turn that off too), and pretending it's incoherent with the way his other powers work is wrong and , frankly, weird.

[DochaDocha]

I like this kind of problem, instead of "oh no, I'm just a kid from Kansas, what do I do?" This is a Superman sized problem. Hearing everything, how do you pick and choose when to help and when not too. Astro City, the Samaritan issues with Winged Victory touch on this.

Jor El? Jor el knew Kal could handle his own business. Sucks to be Superman, looks like it's worse being the old boyfriend.

Yeah, I also consider it a problem that's good for the narrative, without turning Superman into Captain Gloomy.

Or if I wanted to be cheeky...

It says everything about the superhero bit is something he'll always be, not something he merely chooses to do when it's convenient.

[Johnny Thunders!]

Yeah, I also consider it a problem that's good for the narrative, without turning Superman into Captain Gloomy.

Or if I wanted to be cheeky...

It says everything about the superhero bit is something he'll always be, not something he merely chooses to do when it's convenient.

The other thing about it is, it's a relatable problem on an exaggerated scale. Everywhere I go, I see homeless people, I can help them. 24 hours a day I know they are out there. I can give them money, offer them a room, give up my free time to help them find services but I don't. I always know they are out there, but I turn off my compassion and go to sleep. Superman just has the extra sensory burden that I don't. But I still know they need help, maybe even my help.

[brettc1]

I like this kind of problem, instead of "oh no, I'm just a kid from Kansas, what do I do?" This is a Superman sized problem. Hearing everything, how do you pick and choose when to help and when not too. Astro City, the Samaritan issues with Winged Victory touch on this.

Jor El? Jor el knew Kal could handle his own business. Sucks to be Superman, looks like it's worse being the old boyfriend.

You can ask Supes when it happens.

Havin really great hearing is one thing. Not being able to sleep because of it is taking things to a weird extreme. And if he doesn't need to sleep, why bring it up? Steve is human, like firemen and paramedics and police officers.

Plus...now that think about it I'm sure the fortress could solve this problem.

[brettc1]

The other thing about it is, it's a relatable problem on an exaggerated scale. Everywhere I go, I see homeless people, I can help them. 24 hours a day I know they are out there. I can give them money, offer them a room, give up my free time to help them find services but I don't. I always know they are out there, but I turn off my compassion and go to sleep. Superman just has the extra sensory burden that I don't. But I still know they need help, maybe even my help.

Dude, that is not the same at all. Unless you are suggesting fire fighters turn off their compassion by not working 24/7. But both you and they need to sleep.

[Johnny Thunders!]

You can ask Supes when it happens.

Havin really great hearing is one thing. Not being able to sleep because of it is taking things to a weird extreme. And if he doesn't need to sleep, why bring it up? Steve is human, like firemen and paramedics and police officers.

Plus...now that think about it I'm sure the fortress could solve this problem.

I don't think Superman does need to sleep but he does have to accept he can't help everyone at everytime. He can live with it though because like the Buddha he understands that suffering is part of life. Just like being a supporting character and not the star.